Critical Infrastructure News
Anarchists claim responsibility for rail sabotage during Italy Olympics
An anarchist group claimed responsibility on Monday for sabotaging rail infrastructure in northern Italy on Saturday and disrupting train traffic on the first full day of the Winter Olympic Games. Police reported three separate episodes at different locations early on Saturday which caused delays of up to 2-1/2 hours for high-speed and regional services, particularly…
Read More45,000 homes in Berlin without power after politically motivated attack by ‘left-wing extremists’
Around 45,000 households were left without electricity in southwest Berlin after high-voltage power lines were damaged by a fire, which authorities have described as a politically motivated attack by far-left extremists. Though power has been restored in some areas, thousands could be left without power until Thursday after what authorities say was a politically motivated…
Read MorePolice in Finland arrest 2 in connection with damage to undersea telecom cable
Finnish authorities have arrested two people in connection with damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland that occurred earlier this week between the capitals of Finland and Estonia, police said Thursday. The damage was discovered early Wednesday in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone. The cable belongs to Finnish telecommunications service provider Elisa…
Read MoreUkrainian National Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Use Nefilim Ransomware to Attack Companies in the United States and Other Countries
A Ukrainian national pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud for his role in a series of international ransomware attacks. According to court documents, Artem Aleksandrovych Stryzhak, 35, of Barcelona, Spain, conspired with others to deploy the Nefilim ransomware against victim computer networks in the United States and other countries,…
Read MoreEngineer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Bombings of PG&E Transformers, Causing Property Damage and Widespread Power Outages
Peter Karasev, 39, of San Jose, California, was sentenced yesterday to 120 months in federal prison for two counts of willful destruction of an energy facility related to two separate bombings of PG&E electrical transformers in late 2022 and early 2023. U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman handed down the sentence. “Karasev’s attacks on critical…
Read MoreElection Day threats target some NYC, New Jersey polling locations
Bomb threats on Election Day forced towns across New Jersey to move their polling locations and shut down schools, while police sources said New York City and federal authorities responded to an “elaborate swatting attempt” targeting polling sites. Manhattan polling locations in Washington Heights, the West Village and Midtown received messages containing threats of a…
Read MoreFiber optic cable vandalism to blame for Verizon service outage, company says
Verizon customers reported service outages across Los Angeles County after vandalism of fiber optic cables, a spokesperson for the company said. Starting Friday morning, Verizon customers reported cellular and internet interruptions in areas across the county, the spokesperson said. By the afternoon, the company concluded that “multiple fiber cuts due to acts of vandalism” were…
Read MoreGermany’s Munich the latest European airport forced to close after wave of drone sightings
Munich Airport in Germany was forced to close for almost seven hours overnight after a wave of drone sightings, the latest European aviation hub to shutter over unexplained drone flights. A total of 17 flights were grounded shortly after 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, affecting nearly 3,000 passengers, the airport said in a statement.…
Read MoreGerman infrastructure hit by drones, cybercrime, arson
There are now almost daily attacks on critical infrastructure. In the same week that drones were spotted over several European airports, a cyberattack against security software used by many of those same hubs, including Berlin Airport, left passengers and personnel scrambling. At the same time, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn rail service experienced the latest in a…
Read MoreUnidentified drones spark security alert at French military base
Unidentified drones flew over France’s Mourmelon-le-Grand military base overnight on Monday, triggering increased security measures at the facility that houses the 501st tank regiment and has trained Ukrainian soldiers, domestic media reported. Military officials told French outlets that small aircraft spotted over the Marne department base were “not drones piloted by military personnel,” according to…
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